Conference Program

In the short essay Ecofeminism and Children, Ruthanne Kurth-Schai highlighted the systematic exclusion of children from political and social participation within their community, which remains deeply “adult-centered [and] age-segregated […] that better serves the political and economic interests of powerful adults” (1997: 194). This exclusion, mirroring the parallel and centuries-long marginalisation of women from decision-making roles and positions of power, has resulted in the placement of both groups at the lowest levels of social hierarchies, alongside the broad category of non-human nature.

Consequently, like Kurth-Schai, a number of activists and scholars in recent years have emphasised the fundamental importance of fostering a relationship between children and nature. A notable example is Rachel Carson who in 1956, in The Sense of Wonder, recounted the reactions of her nephew Roger during their explorations of the natural world, noting the child’s instinctive tendency to perceive himself as an integral part of the surrounding environment. Even earlier – and moving more specifically into the field of (eco-)pedagogy – the educational thought of Maria Montessori drew attention to children’s need to “live” nature through direct and practical experience, in addition to encountering it through fairy tales. (De Carlo and Pugacheva 2021: 174). Fairy tales, however, have long reinforced – often from a male perspective – the parallel subordination of nature and women, narrating a presumed biological connection between them and at times even personifying the former in the latter. In Gyn/Ecology, perhaps one of the best-known (and also most criticised) works in ecofeminist literature, Mary Daly offered a brief analysis of The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, observing how the tree – “referred to by the pronoun she” – is portrayed as an active and cheerful participant in her own mutilation, effectively turning the story into “one of female rape and dismemberment” (1978: 90).

Building on these premises, the paper aims to reflect on the richness and validity of ecofeminist perspectives as critical frameworks for the interpretation of children’s literature. Drawing on a concrete workshop experience conducted in several middle schools in the province of Trieste, the paper also examines a number of specific case studies: three short stories by Caterina Percoto – La centifoglia, L’orecchio, and Riparazione – dating from the second half of the nineteenth century and presented to students as part of the practical workshop activities. Not coincidentally, this practical component was preceded by a seminar section – later developed into a handbook designed for schools – which focused on different global ecofeminist perspectives and sought to provide students with critical tools for interpreting the texts. Much like activism, which has often preceded theory within the constellation of ecofeminist ideas, the paper ultimately seeks to demonstrate how Percoto’s short stories represent an early example of the ways in which environmental literature for children can offer young readers “an antidote to the logic of domination” (Gaard 2009: 327).